Last Monday, in the midst of the eighth-biggest snowstorm on record in Boston, my husband and I found ourselves in the kitchen, both on a break between calls and round three of the who-has-the-office-now shuffle.

As we sipped on mugs of warm tea, our conversation turned to email marketing.

The week before, my husband had hosted a sold-out event, and wanted to follow-up with attendees.

Sam: "So I can just upload them into my Kit account and email them, right?"

Me: "Did you expressly ask for their permission to be added to your newsletter?"

Sam: "Well, no... but is it okay to do this?"

Me: "Do you want the technical answer, or my approach to that question?"

From a purely technical standpoint? Yes. You can upload and tag those people in your email marketing software and send them a follow-up email.

​But that's not how I do it with my clients.

Donning my email marketing consulting cap, I recommended that he send a separate email thanking them for attending and invite them to join the newsletter, positioning it as as the best way to hear about the next event before tickets go on sale.

Will Sam get fewer newsletter subscribers this way? Absolutely.

But just because people attended his event doesn't mean they want to hear about future events.

Maybe they went that one time to support a friend who was speaking. Maybe they were visiting Boston for a few days and looking for something interesting to do. Maybe they loved the event but they're already drowning in emails and can't take on one more newsletter.

The people who do sign up? Those are the ones who are more likely to read Sam’s future newsletters when they show up in their inbox, and to tell their friends about the awesome event and to buy tickets before they sell out.

Listen, I totally get it. I can tell you from personal experience that growing an email list can be a slog, moving at a pace slower than the molasses that spilled in my pantry.

(Yes, that actually happened, and I still have to clean up.)

But you only want people who have expressly given you permission to be there.

Think about your own inbox. How does it feel to receive marketing emails from an organization you didn’t ask for?

(Personally, I feel like every time I unsubscribe from an unsolicited newsletter, I find myself subscribed to another one. It’s like a digital game of whack-a-mole I didn't ask to play.)

Every recommendations I make for my clients is through the lens of trust and reputation.

Both how people view their business, as well as their technical reputation (your domain's sender reputation, which determines whether your emails actually land in people's inboxes).

In either case, once trust and reputation breaks, it’s a heck of a lot harder to rebuild.

(And being in the midst of a trust recession, as business owners we need to be extra mindful of this.)

That's why consent sits at the core of how I approach email marketing.

Before we touch anything inside of your Kit account, we make sure your foundation is built on permission.

This principle applies beyond events, too.

Anytime you're tempted to add someone to your list - because they downloaded your freebie, attended your webinar, bought your product, or met you at a networking event - ask yourself: Did they specifically say they wanted to receive my newsletter?

If not, give them the choice.

Like my client J., a financial coach.

J. cares deeply about taking a consent-based approach to email marketing. When we worked together, one of the first things we tackled was her event sign-up process.

Instead of automatically adding everyone who registers for her virtual events to her newsletter, we added a checkbox where people can actively opt in to receive it.

Some people just want event info - and that's totally fine! I set up her automations so those people get event updates but are automatically excluded from the newsletter. After the event ends, they're unsubscribed with one gentle invitation to join if they'd like.

We respect the choice they made.

​It's also why so many of my clients hire me specifically to set up or clean up their Kit accounts - because they know this foundation matters.

You've worked too hard to build your business to have your reputation damaged by sending people marketing emails they didn't ask for.

That one extra step - asking for permission, or at the very least, making it CRYSTAL clear that by signing up for something that they’ll also receive marketing emails from you - can make a world of difference in a time when most of us are already overrun with emails.

So here's my task for you: Review your most recent sign-up form or registration process. Does it clearly tell people what they're signing up for? Are you asking for permission, or assuming it?

Take it one step at a time,
​Bev

P.S. Want help building an email system on a foundation of consent?

​Check out my services guide, and if it's a right fit, book a call to chat about what this could look like for your business.

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